Parenting 101

The letter arrived about two weeks after Harry’s appointment with Andrew, the baby was now one and a half months old, going on two. Severus should say he was lucky up to this point, there had been no summoning from either the Dark Lord or Dumbledor, but now the letter looked up at him with the Dark Lord’s seal. He knew what the letter was before even opening it, a Death Eater meeting. He needed to figure out what to do with Harry and quickly. He really didn’t want to call upon Lupin and Black, since a) he really didn’t know how, and b) he hadn’t asked for their help up to this point nor had they reached out to help themselves. 

He didn’t want to reach out to Greyback and to his pack, he a) didn’t want to open that door knowing damn well the werewolf would take that as an invitation to come around more and b) as an ally to the Dark Lord who would also be at the meeting and well known big mouth, it would only take the Dark Lord less than an hour to find out about Harry.

Lucius and Narcissa would also be at the meeting and still didn’t know about Baby Harry, that would be a really awkward conversation to have after all this time and with such short notice.

No, there was only one person Severus could think about calling on.

“Dr. McArthur’s Office, St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries,” Severus replied into the floo fire before sticking his head in.

“Severus!” Andrew replied surprised from where he was sitting at his desk, “What can I do for you?”

“I’m sorry to call you like this, Andrew, but I need your help. Do you have time to stop over to my place?” Severus asked.

“Of course, I’m done for the day and was just finishing up before I headed home, I can floo on over,” Andrew replied, shuffling some papers around on his desk. 

Severus popped back into his own study and finally opened the letter he placed on the end table next to his chair. The meeting was set for tomorrow which was quite quick than they normally were, usually the Dark Lord would wait until the weekend or give time for people to make plans or come up with covers. This could only mean something serious. Severus’ fireplace roared and out stepped Andrew as he brushed his robes.

“Severus, what’s wrong?” Andrew replied.

Severus walked over to the bassinet in front of the large picture window and checked to see Harry was still asleep.

“I need a favor,” Severus replied, turning back to the man and walking back over before handing him the letter.

Andrew scanned the letter before looking back up and responding, “A Death Eater meeting?”

Severus sighed, “For tomorrow, I didn’t know who else to call on for help.”

“You need someone to watch Harry,” Andrew replied, finishing Severus’ thought.

“Yes.”

“I’ll be more than happy to do it,” Andrew replied.

Severus let out the sight of relief he was holding onto, “Thank you.”

“Of course, what time do you need me to take him or to come over, how do you want to do this?”

“I figure you could come here. There are some things I need to do to prepare, but nothing too stressful. No potions or anything, just some notes. He didn’t put down a time so that usually means 1800.”

“I only have a couple of patients in the morning and then after that, I’m off, Dr. Otterton is on-call tomorrow for emergencies so I’m free after noon.”

“That will give me more than plenty of time. I can make lunch and get you set up with his things,” Severus answered.

“Good, I will be over after my last patient then,” Andrew replied.

~SS~

The next day saw Severus running around getting things ready for Andrew to come over and to prepare for the meeting that was tonight. A quick fry up of fish and chips for lunch and placing a kettle on for tea. He also changed and clothed Harry in one of his outfits from Lily, but he began to notice the baby was starting to grow out of them, he was going to have to go shopping soon for new things.

He was grateful for the things that Andrew helped him with between the manuals and how to carry a baby in a wrap. He was also really grateful for the help when he needed to get new formula because Harry ended up becoming allergic to the formula he was feeding him. The books that he also offered to help Severus to make sure Harry was on track for development. Severus also made sure to start Harry’s “tummy time” (Severus hated how stupid it sounded) once he found out that he should be starting now that he was a month old to build up those neck muscles.

He had passed all his reflexes (thank Merlin). He did miss some of the developmental tasks like swaddling or making it easier on himself like carrying him in a sling, but now that he was on track, and had the material, Harry was catching up perfectly. They had been working more with his gripping of objects, like his stuffed and stuffed toys (he’d been putting things in his mouth a lot, like A LOT which had been stressing Severus out in fear the Potter part of Harry’s brain would take over and he would choke). They had also been doing more back and “tummy” times where Harry could build up muscles in his neck from holding up his head and in his arms and legs from kicking and swinging out.

Harry seemed to love being on his back staring up at his mobile, Andrew had sent him one when he learned Severus didn’t really have a nursery set up for him. Andrew later came over that weekend and helped him in setting up at least a basic nursery, albeit, Andrew had plans to later decorate the nursery for Little Harry, just what theme should he do, he wondered. Severus was also finally getting Harry on a sleeping schedule, not a perfect one still, but it was getting better. Needless to day, Severus was just happy that he didn’t have any potion tasks he needed to do.

They had also been taking more walks around the garden and into the local town, luckily, Severus didn’t run into any of the werewolves from Greyback’s pack. Honestly, he was lucky no one from the pack has bothered him in this time, usually they are always coming over at the very LEAST once a week; the month has been the longest any of them have been away from him. Harry was beginning to look in the directions of sounds (or trying to look at least). He was also beginning to recognize Severus’ voice more and more. Severus had been talking to Harry more and more as well (not that he was lonely or anything, nnnnoooooo, it was all in the betterment of Harry’s development Severus would tell you).

At exactly noon, Severus’ fireplace flared and out stepped Andrew brushing off any soot and carrying a large accordion style case.

“Hello, Severus,” Andrew replied with a smile.

“Andrew, thank you again for doing this,” Severus responded.

“Of course,” Andrew replied as he followed Severus into the kitchen.

They sat at the table where their lunches were ready, Harry in his little bassinet by the back door. Andrew placed the case on the floor next to his seat and fixed his tea.

“Work?” Severus asked.

“Mmmm,” Andrew replied positively that it was in fact work, “Need to update my files on my patients from today and I have some that I have to investigate.”

Severus gave him a questioning look at the last statement.

“A couple of patients are not developing like they should so I need to figure out if it’s a medical thing or if it's abuse.”

“Mmmm,” Severus replied in thought, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Well, I can’t let you go through the files, patient confidentiality.”

“Of course, but what about potions?” Severus asked. “If it is a medical issue, I could brew up potions to help.”

Andrew smiled at that, “I would appreciate that, but unfortunately, there is no list I can give you to brew, there are no known potions to help with mothers and new babies.”

“Yes, but you seem to be forgetting,” Severus replied, causing Andrew to look up at him, “I am the youngest potion master in all of England, honestly all over the world. I can experiment and come up with something to help with the different issues for mothers. These are our up and coming generations of children, you would think the Ministry would take an interest in making sure the children are taken care of.”

“Like your Dark Lord,” Andrew replied with a soft smile.

Severus sat back in his chair and thought for a moment, “Yes, like my Dark Lord.”

~SS~

Severus floo to Malfoy Manor where the meeting was being held only to be met with a grinning Lucius Malfoy.

“I knew you would be here on the dot, Severus,” Lucius replied, taking Severus by the arm and guiding him to the library, so it was just an Inner Order meeting.

The two of them walked in, weaving around the groups of people who had already arrived and were mingling with one another while they waited for the Dark Lord.

“Lucius,” Severus started as he was led to their spots at the head of the table, “do you know what this could all be about? Why the sudden meeting?”

“Honestly, Sev, I don’t know. I have been hearing the others questioning as well, but no one really knows what is going on.”

“You know like I do, when he wants a meeting this quickly and now knowing it’s just with the Inner Order, it’s something serious.”

“You don’t need to tell me, Sev,” Lucius replied, pulling out Severus’ chair before sitting next to him, “however, I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Severus rolled his eyes at Lucius pulling out his chair, but didn’t say anything. They had the same conversation in the past multiple times before, but everytime Lucius would keep doing it. He had always doted on Severus, viewing him as a younger brother. After he had learned about Severus’ childhood within the first year, he had talked his father into gaining custody of Severus. By Christmas, Severus was living with the Malfoys full time. Many of the other students would laugh at the fact Lucius would follow Severus around like a puppy, but Lucius didn’t care. There was something about Severus that he loved so much. Many other Slytherins, like Narcissa, took a liking to the younger as well and soon, Severus was the older students’ child.

Many nights at Malfoy Manor found Lucius sleeping in the same bed as Severus when he would wake the household with his screaming from nightmares. Unlike at Hogwarts, Severus couldn’t use silencing spells to keep them from hearing and he could only stay up for so many days in a row before complete exhaustion took over. During these times, Severus would have nightmares and wake up screaming. With Lucius’ rooms next to Severus’, he would be woken up to his screams. He would be running over and crawling into bed with Severus and lull him back to sleep.

Abraxas Malfoy quickly signed Severus up to talk with a mind healer to talk about what had happened to him before the Malfoy’s had taken him. While the nightmares didn’t completely go away after the first session, they ended up becoming fewer and fewer. Abraxas and Cecelia cared for Severus as if he were their second child, unfortunately, Cecelia wasn’t able to have more children, so the Malfoys were very happy to be given the chance to have a second child.

Conversations were cut short as the side doors opened and the Dark Lord walked in. People who had been sitting stood quickly and the others found their spots.

“Please, sit,” Voldemort responded, waving his hand before sitting in his own seat at the head of the table.

Everyone followed suit and looked up at the Dark Lord.

“You are all probably wondering why I have called you here so quickly. Due to some collecting of information from this past month, there are things that have come to my attention. Augustus has been working in the Hall of Prophecy and he came across a prophecy, the people listed are The Chosen One and The Unspoken One. Now, we don’t know who these could be, but with the recent disappearance of the Potters and the fact the prophecy was created just a couple of days before they went missing, it could be possible that the Potter child could be one of the ones listed as one of the two.

“Now, due to the restrictions in the Hall of Prophecy, we don’t know how to retrieve the Prophecy Ball without the harsh punishment that comes with it. So far, we are the only ones who know of the prophecy’s existence, as far as I know. Severus, have you heard anything from Dumbledore?”

“Unfortunately no, M’Lord. The Headmaster has been surprisingly quiet. There has been no form of communication from him,” Severus replied back to the Dark Lord.

“Hmmm,” Voldemort laced his fingers together and placed them under his chin as he leaned forward over the table, “See about visiting the school sometime soon and see if you can find anything.”

“Of course, M’Lord,” There would be another day Severus will need a babysitter for Harry, he sure as hell wasn’t going to take him around the Headmaster.

“Augustus, I want you to keep working in the Hall of Prophecy. See if you can figure out how to get that orb without triggering the punishment,” The Dark Lord replied, turning to the other man.

“Of course, M’Lord,” The man with curly hair, bushy beard, and mustache replied with a nod of his head. 

“Lucius, keep an eye and ear out to see if anyone in the Ministry may be talking about anything about an “Unspoken”,” The Dark Lord replied, ordering the task for the blonde.

“Of course, M’Lord,” Lucius replied.

“Antonin, Amycus, Alecto, I want you three to go undercover to some of the darker areas, Knockturn Alley and some others. See if you can find any information for any other dark wizards, and potential recruiters.”

“Yes, M’Lord,” The three replied.

“Greyback, check with any creature clans as well to see if anyone has reached out to recruit them.”

“Of course,” The werewolf replied.

“Everyone else, keep up with your current tasks. If you hear anything, report back immediately.”

“Yes, M’Lord,” Everyone responded.

~SS~

Severus floo back home. Brushing off the soot from his clothes, he looked up and was met with Andrew asleep on the couch, one leg and one arm hanging down, book hanging loosely from his hand, the other leg propped up against the arm of the couch, glasses skewed, lightly snoring, and a Little Baby Harry resting on his rising and falling chest, the other arm wrapped around the babe tightly so as not to fall. Sev trying to hold in the laugh that wanted to bust out, silently took the camera that just happened to be sitting on the mantle and snapped a couple of quick pictures.

Severus quickly replaced the camera back to its original spot before going over and shaking the other man awake, “Andrew, Andrew I’m back.”

Andrew startled, snorted awake before looking up at Severus, “Oh, Sev, you’re back. How was the meeting?”

Andrew fixed his glasses before sitting up, supporting Harry’s head.

“Interesting,” Severus replied, collapsing into his armchair.

“What happened?”

“Well,” Severus started, “Turns out there was a prophecy made just before Harry was born involving The Chosen One and The Unspoken One.”

“Chosen One? Unspoken One? What?” Andrew asked, confused.

“Yeah, we are all just as confused, including the Dark Lord,” Severus replied, slinking down in his chair.

“So, now what?” Andrew asked.

“Well, the Dark Lord is trying to figure out how to get the prophecy to see if he can figure out what it says.”

“Well, if he’s the Unspoken One, can’t he just go and retrieve it?”

“That’s the thing, we don’t know if he IS the Unspoken One. We also don’t know if Harry is involved. It seems that the prophecy Dumbledore referred to when he went to the Potters is this one, so he must be the only one who has the best idea of what it could be about. How he found out, though, I don’t know. I am to try and find out.”

“I’m assuming you’ll need me to babysit again?” Andrew asked.

“Yes, I have no plans on allowing Dumbledore near Harry at all.”

“Well, let me know,” Andrew began as he stood, Harry still in his arms, “I’ll clear my schedule to come over.”

“I appreciate it,” Severus stood to take Harry back so the man could leave.

Just then, the floo flared to life and out stepped the Malfoys who came face to face with Andrew and Severus as Andrew was passing Harry back to Severus. The Malfoys stood there in shock as they looked on at the scene in front of them. Everyone stood still as if they were statues, too afraid to move or even breathe. Finally Harry squirmed and grunted before letting out the largest, wettest, and longest fart that day for such a little man, signaling that he just pooped in his diaper. All attention went to the baby who was still mid-pass from Andrew to Severus. Lucius was the first to break the silence.

“Severus, there’s a baby in your house.”